Memory's Truth
Memory's Truth is a fan fiction novel written by Captain Goldlock. Its story is considered canon to the Goldvane fiction story arc, and is set three years later than A Captain's Journey. The book introduces several new characters to the Goldvane Story Arc, including Ricardo Goldvane. Writer's Note Note: I've pretty much cancelled this.. I've moved onto SWTOR fiction now. Sorry to anyone who was actually invested in this. Characters Main Cast *Ricardo Goldvane *Richard Goldvane *Jack Can *Rodrigo Del Monyo *Drasocarus *Lince Holo Supporting Cast *Dick "Boogie" Luther - Spanish Agent *Nults McKagan - Townsfolk *Keira Kinover Mar *Albert Spark - Spanish Agent *Cherie Cameo Appearances *Jim Logan *The Hessian *Elizabeth Chapter 1 - Jungle Encounter The year was 1748. It was a bright, sunny day in the Caribbean, in the town of the Tortuga. Many swashbucklers, buccaneers, any type of pirates would dock here on this rock island. Among the lot, was a particular pirate who was planning a rough expedition through a wild jungle. You might wonder why a pirate captain would dare face a wild jungle alone? Well, he was searching for a rare artifact made of solid gold. It was the shape of an ape, and said to have mystical powers. No one knew if this were true, but either way, it was worth a large lump of doubloons. It was said to be located in an underground cave on Isla De Los Monos, an island discovered by Conquistadors many years ago. It was unknown to the current living gold seekers why the Conquistadors named the island this, but rumors of eye-stealing monkeys have gone around, as "De Los Monos" translates to "Island of Monkeys" in spanish. Every respectable pirate knew of this island, but the problem in getting the treasure, was that the island this jungle is on is surrounded by a large circle of mountains and land. There is only one known entrance through the circle, a famous canyon named "The Cobra Canyon". It was named this because it was extremely hard to find, and it is said a Cobra can find a way into anything if it wants it bad enough. Only a few conquistadors had ever discovered the entrance. Only one Conquistador made it back alive from this island, and that is where the stories come from. However, the Conquistador never specified why none of them ever discovered the treasure. However, he did specify one reason why he was the only survivor - Tribal Warriors. Many ancient cannibal tribes that survived for years would inhabit this jungle, and killed anyone who visited. They preferred to use darts against their intruders. These darts would not only make the victim unconscious, but they would also suffer from amnesia, and lose a large portion of their memory. So, an extremely hard-to-locate canyon entrance, rumored-to-be eye-eating monkeys, and tribal warriors surrounding the island - Add that up and you have a place not many pirate captains would dare to go to. But one, in particular, had a good reason. He was known as Captain Richard Goldvane, an experienced, but very unlucky pirate. Richard isn't a rogue pirate that kills or tortures the innocent for pleasure. He also tries his best to limit human deaths in his raids, and tends to not take 100% of the supplies available to him, if they belong to someone else. He also prepares life boats for the crew of every ship he plunders, to assure they escape alive with enough food to last them until they arrive back at a port. There weren't many pirates like this anymore, most of them had been eradicated. Piracy started from this type of pirate, but when Rogue Pirates laid waste to the oceans, navies began hiring double the amount of soldiers and building doubled amounts of war vessels. It also happens that the Eastern Indian Trading Company ( Often referred to as the East India Trading Company or EITC ) began creating a secret organization of soldier-training guilds, known as the Black Guard. These Black Guard guilds have many soldiers in recruit, and often do business with the English Royal Navy. This company in particular has been demolishing the population of Pirates, even the ones who follow the Pirata Codex, like Richard. However, a few of them still get by, after forming an organization called the Secret Brethren Court of Pirates. Richard was one of the main leaders of this court. It so happens to turn out that Richard tends to find himself in a mess with the most feared citizens of the Caribbean, human or not. This time, it was a man name Drasocarus, a banished member of the ancient tribes in that jungle. Unfortunately for Richard, he and his crew ended up at the mercy of this man. Drasocarus agreed to left them live, so long as that Richard retrieved an artifact from the tribe this warrior was formerly a member of. This was the legendary golden ape. Dasocarus wanted vengeance, and used the capture of Richard's crew to his advantage. Richard was forced to go into this jungle and retrieve this artifact. He didn't know how he would, but he usually found some way out of every mess, so he just relied on his luck this time. He launched his small excuse for a boat out of the docks of Tortuga. For an unknown reason, he currently only had one crew member. This mans name was Jack Can, a midget with a dark red longcoat, and a small dirty cap. They traveled for three days, eating soggy biscuits and drinking old water. It was a rough trip, but they finally reached the legendary beach on a bright sunny day. "You sure about this, Rich?" Jack Can asked nervously. "Course I am! I'll find some..... strange.. wobbly way out of this, you be sure of it!" Richard reassured not only Jack, but more importantly, himself. He walked through the jungle, looking behind every tree for this artifact. He walked through a series of bushes and trees, when he heard noises about 30 feet away. He followed the noises. He then noticed he was not alone. There was a young man, who looked about 22ish to Richard, moving very fast, and it seemed as if he was looking for someone. He scurried through the forest. Richard began following him. He then noticed the man had helplessly fell to the ground. Richard came over to investigate. He noticed the dart in the back of the man's neck, and knew there was someone in the jungle who didn't appreciate visitors. He unsheathed his Barracuda Blade, a rare sword he had uncovered a long while back. It had many sharp spikes on each side of the blade, and caused a good deal of pain to any victim. He waited for the attacker to fire at him. Sure enough, the attacker fired another dart from his dart-blower, but it missed to Richard's left. Richard then spotted the attacker in the bushes, and lunged foward before he could fire another shot. Richard used the spikes on his blade to grab the dart-blower from the attackers hands, as he then broke it in half. "Intruder! Yoi shall bes death soon!" The attacker said in a strange style of speaking. Richard lifted his blade. "Oi! No! Noi!" The attacker said as he then ran into the deep brush. Richard then tended to the knocked out man. " Hmm, young lad, eh?" Richard muttered to himself. He spotted the dart, and grabbed it out. "I know just what to do!" Richard said. He started pulling the man by the legs, walking backwards to the beach. He grunted and moaned, as even though this was a younger fellow, Richard wasn't very strong, so it took some effort to pull him. After ten minutes of pulling through the jungle, Richard finally reached the beach. He then slammed the mans face into the water. He repeated this several times. After alot of efforts from Richard, he just wouldn't wake up! "Alright, plan B!" Richard suggested to himself. He then pulled the man back into the jungle. He looked around a bit until he spotted a coconut. He threw a cufflink at the branch it was hanging from, and it plunged down. Richard barely caught it. He walked over to where the man was. He then slammed the coconut onto the mans head, and the lad woke up. "Oww!" He said. "Aye, might hurt a bit, but not more than being taken by a tribal warrior, eh?" Richard said. The man moaned and slowly stood up. "So, what's your name?" Richard asked. "My name? Uh.... it's... arrgh, ... what was it?" The man couldn't seem to remember. "Hmm. Who are your relatives?" Richard asked. The man just couldn't remember a thing. "Alright... do you have an... um... a favorite food? Or, a drink?" Richard continued. "I remember something! I hated vegetables! Yes!" The man said. "Anything else?" Richard asked, nodding his head and moving his hands in a 'please-continue' type of movement, but the man just scratched his head. "Well, I guess I'll have to care for ye until your memory returns, so I should name you!" Richard said. The man didn't seem to know what to think about this idea. "You look rather.. spanish" Richard configured. "Aye, I remember I can speak spanish!" He said. "Hmm.... your name should be.... Ricardo Goldvane!" Richard said. "And what's yours?" Ricardo asked. "Richard Goldvane". "Literally? You named me after yourself?" Ricardo said while giving a look of 'wow, really?'. "Well, ........ yes! Who else should I name my newly adopted member of my... err... family after?" Richard asked. "Look, I'm not a child. I don't need to be 'adopted', I can handle the Caribbean on my own, ok?" Ricardo said. He began walking toward the ocean, as he the tripped over a log. "Oh, really, you can?" asked Richard. "Yes, really." Ricardo said while getting up and glaring at Richard. "What type of weapons can you operate?" Richard asked. "Any blades, and several fire legs" Ricardo suggested. "Fire legs?" Richard asked. "Err, I mean... fire arms." Ricardo corrected. Richard handed him his Barracuda Blade. "Aim for that tree" Richard said while pointing to a large oak tree. Ricardo charged, and did a slash attack, but the spikes got caught on a smaller tree before he could swing. "Well maybe not...." Ricardo grunted as he attempted to pull the sword out. "This type of blade........" Ricardo finished while pulling harder and harder. "No no, you said you could handle any!" Richard added. "I didn't mean Sawfish-snouts used for blades!" Ricardo said. Richard then pulled the blade out and pushed it into his pouch. "The tribal warrior will probably be back with help, lets head to my ship, eh? We need a good able-bodied man such as yourself!" Richard said. "Wait, tribal warrior? Who....? Who are you talking about?" Ricardo started asking things, but Richard just continued walking and walking to his dinghy, as Ricardo followed asking many questions. They arrived back at the beach where Richard's small boat was. "Ok, here's the deal, Ricardo" Richard said. Ricardo seemed a bit frightened. "I want you....... err... to stay here and guard the ship." Richard said. "Some ship..." Ricardo said. "I know, isn't it? A beautiful boat she is. Unfortunately, she'll be dumped away into a crashing ocean for all mermaids, sea creatures, zombies, and Atlantis-beings alike to tear apart into a far too large to count number of pieces..." Richard said. "Why..?" "Because, soon, I'll be getting my ship and crew back, and I won't need this sloop". Richard walked into the small boat. "Jack! No sleeping on the job! I trust Ricardo can fill that position. Which, he must do, considering you're going with me and someone has to guard the ship! Err, boat..." Richard said. "So, I'm staying here to guard this dinghy while you and your short friend go into the jungle for who knows how long?" Ricardo said. Richard showed his teeth with a disgusted look on his face. "Ok, there are TWO very important things that so devastatingly wrong there," Richard began. "FIRST, this is not a DINGHY! This is a BOAT! NOT a dinghy, a boat! And secondly," Richard turned to Jack Can. "Jack is not short, he's............................ shorter, right, Jack?" Richard asked. Jack didn't really understand what Richard had just said, so he just replied with "Right! Shorter... heh". "And, to answer your question, Ricardo, yes, that's exactly what the plan is! At last you've figured something out correctly! You could be on the right track to recovering your memory! Isn't that wonderful?" Richard said. Ricardo just sighed. "Fine, I'll watch the boat, but what will I eat?" He said. "We've got biscuits in a barrel, just don't eat 'em all" Richard said. Ricardo walked into the ship, as Jack Can walked out. "We'll be back.... eventually!" Richard said, as they both headed off into the jungle. Chapter 2 - The Cave Richard and Jack were traveling through the forest. "When will we get there?" Jack Can asked "Eventually," replied Richard. They spotted a large hill. "Shall we climb?" Richard asked. "I'd rather not.." Jack replied. "You weren't supposed to say that! We're going anyways!" Richard said. The two began climbing, and after a couple minutes, the reached the top. "That looks like a cave over there" Jack Can pointed out a small rock structure that looked as if it might hold an entrance to an underground cave. "Nice work, Jack. Since our first sailing adventure together, you've always proved to be an extremely valuable short... - shorter person" Richard said. Jack Can began climbing down the hill and heading towards their next location while Richard studied it for a moment. Jack had made it to the bottom. Richard simply decided to slide down and hope he would land on his feet - He was wrong. Richard landed face-slap in the dirt, due to the fact that while sliding down, his foot caught against a sturdy rock, causing his body to simply fall in a trip motion. Richard groaned a bit and got up. His leg seemed to be injured. He limped torwards Jack. "You alright, Rich?" Jack asked. Richard grunted a bit. "Yeah, I should be alright." Richard didn't know, but his left leg had been seriously injured from the rock impact, and would take around three days of rest at least to recover, and over a week to recover if not tended to. "At least there aren't Giant Flytraps eating us alive, ey?" Richard said. They proceeded until they found the cave Jack had pointed out. Sure enough, Jack was right, this was the cave they were looking for. A monkey lunged out of a tree and onto Jack Can, and began attacking him."HELP! Get this thing off me! ahhh!" Jack screamed. Richard pulled out a pistol. "JACK! Don't move, and keep the monkey in one place!" Richard said as he pointed his gun at the monkey, which was moving all around Jack's body. He fired a shot, which luckilly hit the monkey. The creature fell to the ground, but was able to climb a tree and swing from a vine like it wasn't harmed much. "Tough monkey...." Richard said. "Shall we go in?" Jack asked, while pointing to the small cave entrance which started as a levitated tunnel, but then went downhill and into the underground surface. "Aye. In we go... to the monkey place.." Richard said. The two began walking into the cave. Meanwhile, back at the boat. Ricardo was getting bored. He opened the "biscuit bucket", to find only one biscuit inside, along with a half of a biscuit, that looked like it had teeth marks. He grabbed the full biscuit, and attempted to make a bite. Unfortuantely, the biscuit was very hard. "Oww! horrible biscuit!" Ricardo said as he threw it off the side of the boat and into the ocean. "Hmm..." Ricardo said as he noticed coconuts in most of the trees in the jungle. He got out of the boat, leaving it unguarded and headed for the jungle. He began to throw rocks at the coconuts in the above trees. After ten minutes of trying, his attempts failed to do anything but crack a coconut, splattering the liquid all over him. He then noticed that the boat was drifting away. "Doh..." he said as he ran towards the beach and into the water. He began swimming torwards the boat. He was able to grab ahold of the boat, jump on, and steer it safely back to the shore. "It must not be able to stay in one place without weight.. ugh, how could I be so stupid!?" Ricardo thought to himself. "Now I have no food, I'm all wet, and I can't get off this stinking boat without it drifting away. How did I get myself in this mess..." Meanwhile, Jack and Richard were entering the cave. The walked through a downhill tunnel, which made a U turn, and then found themselves in the underground cave. There were a few Tribal locals in the cavern, some of them dancing and performing rituals. One man had a neclace around his neck with white dove feathers. His hat was the top of a coconut with symbols painted on it with mainly blue and white colors. It had two bear teeth connected to the sides. They didn't look like intimidating horns, but more like a sign that this was a worthy fighter. He had taken down a bear, ''and he meant business. He also wore a vest similar to what Richard knew as a wildfire vest, which contained very rare silk. There were other strange tribespeople in the cavern too. There was a woman wearing an entire coat of peacock feathers, and she had wacky tattoos all over her face. She also wore a feather as a hat, with the tip of the feather and the stim of the feather sealed together creating a bandana type hat. Richard spotted the Ape artifact he was searching for behind the leader, sitting on a wooden pedestal. He would have to fight his way through the tribal warriors, which would be very difficult, seeing as Richard only had Jack Can to help. They began walking into the cave, as if it was no big deal that they were there. "Intruder! Yoi shall be death!" said a tribal warrior. "Eh, actually, I don't think we'll be deathing any time soon, thank you." Richard said. The leader approached the two pirates. "What brings filth as yourselves to my catacombs?" He asked. "English? You speak.. fluent english? Separates you from your fellow, err, munchkins, ey?" Richard said. The leader didn't seem to like this comment. "I am Lince Holo! I speak over one hundred and twinty three languages! And, fluently!" Lince Holo replied. "Wow..." Jack Can said. "And, my people are not 'munchkins'. We are warriors! Incredible warriors, I say!" Holo replied. "Well, these don't look like catacombs to me, more like.. err... a small camp.." Richard said. Lince Holo just smirked. "Why have you come here? Answer me truthfully, feble filth!" He said. Richard decided to toy with Holo as Jack Can would come up with a plan. "Well, let's just say I'm not quite sure why we're here. My memory tells me why, but, eh.. my gut says something else, ey?" Richard said. "Now now, mr. Filth, memory is always true. No matter how much you dislike what you remember, it will always, ''always be true." Holo replied. "Ey, unless it was a dream, right? Heh?" Richard attempted to joke as he summed up a smile, but Lince Holo still wasn't impressed. He never wiped the one-upping look off of his face. "Why are you here, filth!?" Holo asked. Patience seemed to be a virtue he didn't have. "Well, you see, uh, we sort of need to save ourselves from a certain someone. That someone requires an item of yours." Richard said. "Ah, I see. Drasocarus, perhaps?" Holo asked. "Right on the ding. So, if you don't mind, we'll just be, eh.. taking that, and.. leaving?" Richard said as he pointed to the ape figure. "Ah, it is the Monkoculous you seek. Well, we've gotten many strange people, acustomed with metal hats who have come to steal our treasure. But never, never, have we gotten any visitors such as yourselves. A filth and a dwarf paired? A rare sight that is." Holo said. "Yeah, it really is isn't it? Now, I'd prefer if you wouldn't call me filth and wouldn't call Jack a dwarf. He's not short! He's shorter! Remember that..." Richard said. "Well, I won't be calling you filth anymore, filth..." Holo began. Pfft, didn't keep that promise long... Richard thought to himself. "Because now you will be devoured by our most valued ally. Wakto, release.. the hessian!" Holo ordered. The tribal warriors lifted a metal-barred door. Richard heard a loud "ROOOAAAARRRR!!" Chapter 3 - The Hessian Richard gazed at the ever-so-dark cave in which held what Lince Holo called "The Hessian". Richard wasn't sure what this was, so he just waited for it to come out. He heard stomping, followed by a series of loud grunts. "Maybe he's constipated?" Jack Can suggested. "Or hungry" Richard said. "Hope he doesn't like dwarf." Jack replied. They both drew their blades, but before they could prepare further, the monster unleashed its fury-driven charge. It was a giant gorilla-type beast, armored with mass iron plating, its bottom teeth jaggedly erected from its jaw, grungy and stained with what looked like blood and human bodyparts. A handprint could be ratted out in one of its few visible upper teeth, only barely making its way through the muck stains. "Yep, I'm out." Richard declared as he swiftly turned to run to the exit before being yielding to two tribal guards. Jack, however, flung his small broadsword at the monster. "Dwarves fight til the end!" - the ape simply picked him up and began crunching him together. Jack struggled, but eventually escaped his arm from the hairy hell-monster's grasp, and carrying a knife he pushed forward into the beast's eyeball. It emitted a sound like a Spanish galleon would upon impact with a jagged reef. "Impossible! No one has ever injured the Hessian! The Gods are unhappy!" Holo proclaimed in a whiney voice. Richard unleashed his Barracuda blade, parrying a few attacks from the guards and their spears, but was caught off guard when Holo assaulted him from behind. He pressed his elegant blade's tip to the back of Richard's neck gently, not enough to injure him but enough to let him know he was there. "Drop your weapon, filth." he said blandly. Richard dropped his blade, and two guards pointed their spears directly at him. Meanwhile, the Hessian had dropped Jack Can, which allowed him to gain his feet. He grabbed his broadsword and ran toward Richard, slashing Holo's leg, which knocked him off his feet, but he quickly swirled around on his hands and stood up, Richard had grabbed his Barracuda just in time to parry Holo's furious attack. Holo flung his blade sideways in a straight line swiftly before lunging in with a direct attack, but Richard was able to counter using the spikes on the Barracuda. "You weild an ancient blade of great darkness.. but I am a thirty-year servant of the Light! Darkness always falls." "Since when was I involved in this good vs. evil nonsense?" Richard asked, confused at Holo's words. Blade of darkness? The Light? Holo ignored his comment and pushed his assault. Jack, pursued by the Hessian, ran between the two guards. The Hessian simply swung its arms outward, sending the two guards flying into walls. Jack was at the exit, and the Hessian launched its arm forward for a crushing blow, but Jack rolled sideways and back into the cave, barely dodging the attack. He ran past a few tribal warriors who were still in shock that the Hessian was runnning loose. Victims would always either get eaten on sight or just flee the cave when they unleashed the beast, and they'd never seen it so angry. "What have you unraveled, filth!?" Holo questioned, still attacking Richard with all his might. "Eh?" "The Hessian has never been injured. We haven't had an enemy with a dark blade in our presence for twenty years. It is said the beast will fall as a prologue to dark times.. you best not be the middle man of evil, for it is said I will slaughter said individual!" "Why you? I mean, no offense, but you of all people?" Richard grinned. "I am the leader of the nearly demolished Tahkia tribe, a tribe whose leader is destined to kill the bringer of evil, the being whose destiny is to unlock a gateway to the dark times... I'm destined to kill him.. and I swear if you are even in some way associated with the dark arts I will have your head right this instant!" Lince Holo slashed in two vertical swings as he finished his monologue. "Okay, well I don't think Im some evil gateway, so I guess we can just go back to being friends!" Richard suggested, struggling to parry the attacks. Holo continued swinging, pushing Richard back further and further. Jack Can raced toward the pedestal that held the Monkoculous, but the woman with the feather hat halted him. The feather was strong enough to hold some of her hair in, but two long dirty blonde groups swung downward from the sides of her head lazily. "Think you're gettin' this, shorty?" She asked. She had some golden Egyptian armor around her chest, and it appeared to resemble that of a cat worshiper. ~Will add more when I have time, felt like adding this small scene cause I was bored :P Category:Memory's Truth Category:Fiction Category:POTCO Fiction